2025 AFL Round 25: Essendon v Carlton

This is the match report for the match played on 21 August 2025 between Essendon and Carlton during round 25 of the 2025 AFL season. Essendon hosted Carlton at MCG. Zach Merrett captained the hosts with Andrew McGrath as vice-captain. Patrick Cripps captained the visitors. The hosts were coached by Brad Scott and the visitors were coached by Michael Voss.

Essendon
Back: A. McGrath (vice-capt.), J. Prior, J. Nguyen
Half-back: M. Redman, L. Blakiston, A. Roberts
Centre: S. El-Hawli, Z. Merrett (capt.), A. Clarke
Half-forward: M. Guelfi, P. Wright, J. Menzie
Forward: K. Langford, L. McMahon, I. Kako
Follower: T. Goldstein, A. Perkins, D. Shiel
Int.: X. Duursma, J. Gresham, L. Lual, R. Unwin
Sub.: Z. Johnson

Carlton
Back: A. Saad, J. Weitering, M. Carroll
Half-back: L. Cowan, L. Young, N. Haynes
Centre: S. Walsh, P. Cripps (capt.), O. Hollands
Half-forward: Z. Williams, H. McKay, B. Acres
Forward: F. Young, T. De Koning, F. Evans
Follower: H. O'Keeffe, G. Hewett, C. Durdin
Int.: A. Moir, J. Motlop, W. White, B. Wilson
Sub.: L. Camporeale

Essendon (8.8.56) were defeated by Carlton (13.12.90).

Goalkickers
Essendon: M. Guelfi (3), I. Kako (2), P. Wright (2), K. Langford
Carlton: F. Evans (3), A. Moir (2), F. Young (2), G. Hewett, H. McKay, J. Motlop, H. O'Keeffe, W. White, Z. Williams

As a result of this match, Essendon remained 15th on the ladder and Carlton were then 11th on the ladder (up from 12th) by the end of the day.

Match Details

Season: 2025 AFL Season
Round: Round 25
Teams: Essendon v Carlton
Date: Thursday 21 August 2025
Time: 7:30 PM
Venue: MCG
Attendance: 41,150

Match Results

Outcome: Essendon def. by Carlton
Score: 8.8.56 - 13.12.90

Quarter Breakdown

Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Final
Essendon 1 . 4 2 . 6 5 . 6 8 . 8 8 . 8 (56)
Carlton 3 . 4 7 . 6 11 . 8 13 . 12 13 . 12 (90)
Margin CARL by 12 CARL by 30 CARL by 38 CARL by 34 CARL by 34
Duration 28:50 29:25 30:19 28:38 1:57:12

Honour Roll

Coaches: Brad Scott (Essendon), Michael Voss (Carlton)
Captains: Zach Merrett (Essendon), Patrick Cripps (Carlton)
Vice-Captains: Andrew McGrath (Essendon), unknown (Carlton)

Brownlow Votes

Player Team # Votes
Patrick Cripps CARL 9 3
Sam Walsh CARL 18 2
Harry McKay CARL 10 1

Player Statistics

Essendon

# Player Pos. ToG% GL BH DI KI HB MK HO TA CL CR FF FA RF IF
46 Blakiston, Lachlan CHB 100% 0 0 7 3 4 1 0 2 1 0 0 0 0 0
36 Clarke, Angus WR 85% 0 0 27 16 11 9 0 1 1 4 0 0 6 3
28 Duursma, Xavier INT 88% 0 0 19 10 9 7 0 3 2 4 2 3 5 2
41 El-Hawli, Saad WL 83% 0 0 16 13 3 5 0 2 0 5 0 0 3 2
17 Goldstein, Todd RU 78% 0 0 16 6 10 4 18 3 7 6 2 3 0 1
11 Gresham, Jade INT 71% 0 0 14 4 10 1 0 2 1 4 2 2 1 1
35 Guelfi, Matt HFFL 77% 3 1 13 9 4 4 0 2 0 1 1 1 0 2
40 Johnson, Zak SUB 24% 0 0 10 7 3 4 0 0 0 1 0 0 1 1
10 Kako, Isaac FPR 87% 2 1 19 9 10 6 0 4 2 1 0 0 1 0
4 Langford, Kyle FPL 81% 1 0 14 6 8 3 0 4 0 3 0 1 0 4
34 Lual, Luamon INT 87% 0 0 12 7 5 7 0 0 0 3 0 1 2 1
1 McGrath, Andrew (vc) BPL 78% 0 0 30 11 19 3 0 1 3 4 2 1 0 5
48 McMahon, Liam FF 55% 0 0 2 1 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
29 Menzie, Jye HFFR 75% 0 1 7 3 4 2 0 1 0 3 0 1 0 0
7 Merrett, Zach (c) C 86% 0 0 24 15 9 5 0 9 1 3 1 0 2 4
42 Nguyen, Jayden BPR 81% 0 0 10 4 6 2 0 2 1 4 1 0 2 1
16 Perkins, Archie RR 80% 0 1 19 10 9 4 0 4 4 3 0 1 1 0
25 Prior, Jaxon FB 86% 0 0 17 8 9 2 0 2 0 3 1 0 3 0
27 Redman, Mason HBFL 89% 0 1 34 23 11 9 0 1 0 4 2 2 8 1
21 Roberts, Archie HBFR 93% 0 0 28 15 13 1 0 3 3 5 3 2 5 5
9 Shiel, Dylan RO 67% 0 1 30 9 21 8 0 2 1 3 0 0 5 3
38 Unwin, Rhys INT 66% 0 1 6 5 1 5 0 0 0 2 1 1 0 1
20 Wright, Peter CHF 82% 2 0 8 7 1 6 10 1 0 0 1 0 0 2
Rushed 1
Total (23 players) 8 8 382 201 181 99 28 49 27 66 19 19 45 39

Carlton

# Player Pos. ToG% GL BH DI KI HB MK HO TA CL CR FF FA RF IF
13 Acres, Blake HFFR 82% 0 1 29 15 14 8 0 0 0 7 0 2 2 3
21 Camporeale, Lucas SUB↑ 24% 0 0 5 4 1 2 0 1 1 0 2 0 0 1
32 Carroll, Matt BPR 84% 0 1 15 13 2 7 0 0 0 3 0 0 1 2
2 Cowan, Lachie HBFL 85% 0 0 22 15 7 7 0 2 0 1 2 1 4 2
9 Cripps, Patrick (c) C 84% 0 0 28 8 20 3 0 5 3 5 0 2 1 6
12 De Koning, Tom FF 78% 0 1 15 11 4 5 16 3 4 4 1 2 0 2
19 Durdin, Corey RO 75% 0 0 15 7 8 7 0 2 0 4 0 1 0 3
44 Evans, Francis FPR 80% 3 0 19 11 8 5 0 5 2 0 2 0 0 4
26 Haynes, Nick HBFR 86% 0 0 15 10 5 8 0 1 1 1 1 0 2 1
29 Hewett, George RR 85% 1 2 36 12 24 2 0 2 10 3 0 0 0 5
4 Hollands, Oliver WR 84% 0 0 21 10 11 2 0 3 3 2 3 0 4 3
10 McKay, Harry CHF 91% 1 4 17 14 3 11 4 2 0 5 0 2 0 2
43 Moir, Ashton INT 71% 2 0 8 6 2 2 0 0 1 1 1 0 0 2
3 Motlop, Jesse INT 76% 1 0 22 12 10 3 0 2 2 5 1 2 1 4
40 O'Keeffe, Hudson RU 78% 1 0 7 2 5 1 10 1 1 3 2 2 0 1
42 Saad, Adam BPL 83% 0 0 16 14 2 7 0 2 1 1 1 0 6 0
18 Walsh, Sam WL↓ 54% 0 0 28 11 17 4 0 3 3 3 1 1 2 5
23 Weitering, Jacob FB 99% 0 0 13 10 3 9 0 1 0 1 0 1 3 0
38 White, Will INT 75% 1 0 4 3 1 1 0 0 0 1 0 1 0 0
6 Williams, Zac HFFL 80% 1 0 18 8 10 3 0 3 5 1 0 1 1 0
35 Wilson, Billy INT 78% 0 0 19 12 7 9 0 2 1 1 0 0 2 3
45 Young, Flynn FPL 84% 2 0 19 11 8 8 0 1 0 3 1 0 0 8
33 Young, Lewis CHB 85% 0 0 6 3 3 0 0 1 0 3 1 1 1 1
Rushed 3
Total (23 players) 13 12 397 222 175 114 30 42 38 58 19 19 30 58

L. Camporeale replaced S. Walsh.

Legend

ToG%: Time-on-Ground Percentage, GL: Goals, BH: Behinds, DI: Disposals, KI: Kicks, HB: Handballs, MK: Marks, HO: Hitouts, TA: Tackles, CL: Clearances, CR: Clangers, FF: Free Kicks For, FA: Free Kicks Against, RF: Rebounds Inside 50, IF: Inside 50s

Player Line-Up

Essendon Coach: Brad Scott
BACK FOLLOWER INTERCHANGE
42 A. Saad 23 J. Weitering 32 M. Carroll 17 T. Goldstein 28 X. Duursma
10 I. Kako 48 L. McMahon 4 K. Langford 16 A. Perkins 11 J. Gresham
FORWARD 9 D. Shiel 34 L. Lual
HALF-BACK

38 R. Unwin
2 L. Cowan 33 L. Young 26 N. Haynes

40 Z. Johnson
29 J. Menzie 20 P. Wright 35 M. Guelfi



HALF-FORWARD



CENTRE



18 S. Walsh 9 P. Cripps (c) 4 O. Hollands



36 A. Clarke 7 Z. Merrett (c) 41 S. El-Hawli FOLLOWER INTERCHANGE
CENTRE 40 H. O'Keeffe 43 A. Moir
HALF-FORWARD 29 G. Hewett 3 J. Motlop
6 Z. Williams 10 H. McKay 13 B. Acres 19 C. Durdin 38 W. White
21 A. Roberts 46 L. Blakiston 27 M. Redman

35 B. Wilson
HALF-BACK

21 L. Camporeale
FORWARD



45 F. Young 12 T. De Koning 44 F. Evans



42 J. Nguyen 25 J. Prior 1 A. McGrath (vc)



BACK



Carlton Coach: Michael Voss

Score Timeline

Quarter Team Scoring Event Score Time
Q1 CARL George Hewett behind 0.0.0 - 0.1.1 04:09
ESSE Isaac Kako behind 0.1.1 - 0.1.1 08:59
ESSE Archie Perkins behind 0.2.2 - 0.1.1 10:37
ESSE Peter Wright goal 1.2.8 - 0.1.1 12:05
CARL Jesse Motlop goal 1.2.8 - 1.1.7 13:13
CARL Blake Acres behind 1.2.8 - 1.2.8 14:45
CARL Will White goal 1.2.8 - 2.2.14 16:14
CARL George Hewett goal 1.2.8 - 3.2.20 21:07
CARL Harry McKay behind 1.2.8 - 3.3.21 23:57
ESSE Rushed behind 1.3.9 - 3.3.21 25:07
CARL Harry McKay behind 1.3.9 - 3.4.22 26:09
ESSE Rhys Unwin behind 1.4.10 - 3.4.22 27:41
Q2 CARL Harry McKay goal 1.4.10 - 4.4.28 01:21
CARL Hudson O'Keeffe goal 1.4.10 - 5.4.34 03:17
ESSE Jye Menzie behind 1.5.11 - 5.4.34 05:16
ESSE Matt Guelfi goal 2.5.17 - 5.4.34 07:44
CARL Flynn Young goal 2.5.17 - 6.4.40 12:32
CARL George Hewett behind 2.5.17 - 6.5.41 15:58
CARL Harry McKay behind 2.5.17 - 6.6.42 19:56
ESSE Dylan Shiel behind 2.6.18 - 6.6.42 23:02
CARL Ashton Moir goal 2.6.18 - 7.6.48 24:47
Q3 ESSE Matt Guelfi goal 3.6.24 - 7.6.48 00:34
ESSE Kyle Langford goal 4.6.30 - 7.6.48 04:34
CARL Rushed behind 4.6.30 - 7.7.49 11:59
CARL Ashton Moir goal 4.6.30 - 8.7.55 15:18
CARL Harry McKay behind 4.6.30 - 8.8.56 19:50
CARL Francis Evans goal 4.6.30 - 9.8.62 23:07
ESSE Matt Guelfi goal 5.6.36 - 9.8.62 24:47
CARL Francis Evans goal 5.6.36 - 10.8.68 26:00
CARL Zac Williams goal 5.6.36 - 11.8.74 28:40
Q4 ESSE Isaac Kako goal 6.6.42 - 11.8.74 01:33
ESSE Isaac Kako goal 7.6.48 - 11.8.74 06:42
ESSE Peter Wright goal 8.6.54 - 11.8.74 11:19
CARL Francis Evans goal 8.6.54 - 12.8.80 16:17
CARL Rushed behind 8.6.54 - 12.9.81 18:06
ESSE Mason Redman behind 8.7.55 - 12.9.81 18:48
CARL Flynn Young goal 8.7.55 - 13.9.87 20:04
ESSE Matt Guelfi behind 8.8.56 - 13.9.87 22:50
CARL Matt Carroll behind 8.8.56 - 13.10.88 24:41
CARL Rushed behind 8.8.56 - 13.11.89 26:49
CARL Tom De Koning behind 8.8.56 - 13.12.90 28:03